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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her government's record on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by external reviews earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is set for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Authorities have sought her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am disheartened," he continued.

Recently, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Hasina and the old leadership," he said.